WRC
Rally Finland: Citroen final leg summary
A team exploit for Loeb/Elena and Citroen in Finland The 58th Rally Finland, ninth round of the 2008 World Rally Championship, promises to be remembered as a landmark event in the history of world class rallying. The final leg saw Sebastien Loeb ...
Published: Aug 3, 2008, 5:14 PM
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A team exploit for Loeb/Elena and Citroen in Finland
The 58th Rally Finland, ninth round of the 2008 World Rally Championship, promises to be remembered as a landmark event in the history of world class rallying. The final leg saw Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena clinch their first ever win here, while Dani Sordo and Marc Marti claimed fourth overall in the second Citroen Total C4 WRC to harvest valuable Manufacturers' points for Citroen.
Rally Finland is renowned as one of the WRC calendar's toughest fixtures, and its high speed jumps and extremely fast stages call for years of experience. Since the creation of the Manufacturers' World Championship in 1973, only Carlos Sainz (1990) and Didier Auriol (1992) had succeeded in toppling the Finns on their home event before today. The seventh attempt of Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena in a Citroen WRC car saw them become the third crew in history to thwart the local stars.
"I'm thrilled to have won this rally," beamed Sebastien Loeb at the finish. "and I'm especially pleased with the way we won it. From start to finish, the scrap reminded me of the thrilling clashes we had last year with Marcus Gronholm. It was a very close run thing throughout and we were never able to relax. The decision to keep the lead at the end of the opening day involved a certain amount of risk because we didn't know exactly how much road-sweeping we would have to do. It meant pushing hard all the way, but the tactic finally paid off."
"Our objective today was to keep up a fast pace over the final day's 40.47km of stages and keep a close eye on how our main rival was going," continued the four-time World Champion. "It was important not to make any mistakes and that meant building in a certain safety margin. After spending the first two days driving flat out between the trees, I had absolutely no intention of letting our 42nd WRC win slip from our grasp. Today's victory also means we have met one of the objectives we set ourselves at the start of the season and that's a particularly satisfying feeling. I had every confidence in my Citroen C4 from flag to flag and this result gives our chances in the Drivers' championship a terrific boost since it narrows the gap down to just three points. It's been a positive weekend, too, for Citroen in the Manufacturers' standings."
"Beating the Finns in a straight fight on their home event is an indescribable experience," added Daniel Elena. "For me, it's a dream come true. The way I call out the notes here is no different to anywhere else; it's just the speed at which they need to come out that differs, plus the extraordinary sensation of feeling the car drifting with all four wheels at 200kph!"
"We spent the last day driving sufficiently quickly to defend our fourth place," related Dani Sordo. "I am pleased with my performance this weekend and I didn't make any mistakes. I have learnt even more about how to drive on this highly specific event where experience counts for so much. There are still a few areas where I can improve, notably the way I brake. It's nice to be at the finish and it's the first time I've had that pleasure here in a WRC car. Our C4 WRC was extremely competitive and the points that Citroen has scored promise to be important as the rest of the season unfolds."
"When you know just how tough it is to win this event, today's result is immensely satisfying," concluded Olivier Quesnel. "Sebastien and Daniel didn't put a foot wrong and they came out on top at the end of what was an unrelenting fight. The tremendous work put in by everyone in the technical team on the C4 since last year has paid dividends. It was awesomely competitive and this is a top result for us in terms of the Manufacturers' Championship, too. The way both C4s performed is particularly encouraging for the rest of the season. Dani and Marc also put in a very mature run. A magnificent victory, some outstanding times, clockwork reliability and a big points haul... what else could we ask for?"
-credit: citroen-wrc.com
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